Vimo live transfers

[TXINSURANCE]

I also have to be prepared to hit inevitbale dry runs where I might skunk on 1 out of 7 or even 8.

There are huge state by state demographic variations in addition to individual agent skill set. You can figure this out with some basic experimentation.

My best state is about 1 of 7, my worst is about 1 of 30.

This thread is good and I hope it gives Vimo a solid plug, you SHOULD indeed try them as you will never know if this is right or wrong for your operation until you throw some money at it.

Click to Call or Live Transfer is the future of a lot of lead vendors - I know 2 other MAJOR lead vendors launching Click to Call VERY SOON - which is GOOD it will bring pricing DOWN and QUALITY up (I am such a capitalist...) and make this more competitive for all agents.

Of course of the other 2 I know that are starting CLICK TO CALL - Vimo is the only one I would trust leaving my wallet on the table and knowing all the money would be there when I came back - they are a solid group of people, the technology is still getting tweaked, but I see no evil intent to rip people off like I see with 99% of lead vendors mentioned on this board.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

Well I haven't paid for a lead (except telemarketed) in almost 2 years. I think the true value of a lead shared with other agents when the prospect doesn't expect anyone to call is around $2 - maybe $3. A shared lead where the prospect knows agents will be calling is worth around $7 to $8.

An exclusive lead where the client is calling to speak with an agent has no price - $25 to $75. I'm very intersted to see what agents, over the long haul, determine the value to be. Will an agent accept a 1:2 return if all they have to do is pick up the phone, ie: spend $300 to make $600? I don't know.

There's a price on the BS factor and even I haven't established what that is. Say you had to pour through 50 leads to make two sales and leads only cost you $6 returning $700 per deal. That's $300 to return $1,400 which anyone would take all day. But there are organizational headaches involved in dealing with a lot of shared lead volume. You can easily become overwhelmed. Your attitude also tends to drop as you come to realize that 90% of the time you pick up the phone it's wasted effort. We won't bother disussing the headaches involved in dealing with unethical competitors.

However, what's the effort involved in chasing down 50 people. Would you spend $500 to return $1,400 if instead of chasing down 50 leads if you simply spoke with 12 transfers?

I'm with you TX and liking this as hopefully the wave of the future. Obviously only the lead companies with very deep pockets could drive enough traffic to their site to generate calls. I'd LOVE to know the stats; how many site hits vs. how many calls. I'd bet the conversion is horrible.

There's also something else to discuss if any agent make this their sole lead source. Just what do you do with your day if you're only taking say 5 calls and closing one deal? Could this really turn into a bad infomercial? - "EARN SIX FIGURES WORKING PART-TIME!" Would it be possible to simply hang around the house and pick up the phone 5 times?

Obviously if you really wanted to bat it out of the part you'd continue with your other lead sources - continue getting your 40 or so leads per week and supplement it with answering live transfers.

The other huge factor? This changes not only daily, but hourly. This is bidding on leads. You could be the alpha male in your state and top bidder at $35 and be riding high - then another agent comes along with deeper pockets and now you're bidding $65.

 

[TXINSURANCE]

I think the true value of a lead shared with other agents when the prospect doesn't expect anyone to call is around $2 - maybe $3. A shared lead where the prospect knows agents will be calling is worth around $7 to $8.

Honestly there is not much difference between the two. Shared leads I have ran 89% to 93% voice mail on my phone stats for many years this is using complex programming , predictive dialers, working AM / PM / Weekends , you name it I have data on it.

Both of the leads you speak of have a value (in bulk) of around $2 to $4 - $3 being a solid average. Bulk I mean in excess of 1000 / leads per month.

We do heavy outbound, but the majority of our applications are indeed INBOUND, a lot from previous outbound, and other marketing. The LABOR costs of SHARED leads when you start working 1000, 2000, 10000 leads a month is through the roof. The stress is through the rough as well - you can burn out even the strongest agent - I have been beat up and burnt out countless times, it happens.

LIVE PHONE calls has always been part of my business, my goal has always been to make my phone ring - through a variety of ways. Internally it costs me around $70+ every time my phone rings inbound from my rough calculations.

INBOUND has always been a pricey game. I hope more agents DO try Live Calls and more lead companies offer the technology - this will drive up quality and reduce costs in the short term. (my theory anyhow...)

Long Term costs could indeed rise out of control (like when Insurance carriers themselves start buying the transfers). Don't laugh it WILL happen, if it is not already. Insurance carriers are doing pay per click and buying shared leads why would they not buy live transfers as well.

I love capitalism ...

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

Honestly there is not much difference between the two. Shared leads I have ran 89% to 93% voice mail on my phone stats for many years this is using complex programming , predictive dialers, working AM / PM / Weekends , you name it I have data on it.

Both of the leads you speak of have a value (in bulk) of around $2 to $4 - $3 being a solid average. Bulk I mean in excess of 1000 / leads per month.

We do heavy outbound, but the majority of our applications are indeed INBOUND, a lot from previous outbound, and other marketing. The LABOR costs of SHARED leads when you start working 1000, 2000, 10000 leads a month is through the roof. The stress is through the rough as well - you can burn out even the strongest agent - I have been beat up and burnt out countless times, it happens.

LIVE PHONE calls has always been part of my business, my goal has always been to make my phone ring - through a variety of ways. Internally it costs me around $70+ every time my phone rings inbound from my rough calculations.

INBOUND has always been a pricey game. I hope more agents DO try Live Calls and more lead companies offer the technology - this will drive up quality and reduce costs in the short term. (my theory anyhow...)

Long Term costs could indeed rise out of control (like when Insurance carriers themselves start buying the transfers). Don't laugh it WILL happen, if it is not already. Insurance carriers are doing pay per click and buying shared leads why would they not buy live transfers as well.

I love capitalism ...

Fantastic post. This is definitely a situation where we can get in on the ground floor. Be it months or years we'll eventually see the true price of a live transferred lead and I'd say $70 is about right.

Be it a rock solid agent with unbelievable closing skills or some unethical whore, some agent will establish a closing ratio and simply outbid everyone in an 8 state area. You bid $60 he'll come back with $75 and plant your ass on the bench. I don't think it's if that'll happen, but when.

 

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

I hope that doesnt happen (although it probably will). I don't see myself bidding above $50. At that point, even shared leads give me a better ROR. But my situation is a bit unique.

OK. We lost to Central Michigan. Now playing Louisville in BBall and leading early in the second half. Go! go! Go!

 

[vimo]

Chumps - you an MU Ohio guy? That's my alma mater - rough game today.

Dynamic bidding is available, but not self-service yet for brokers. We'll need to set it up for you.

Anyone interested can read about it on our blog (second post down): Closing Coverage: Health Insurance Sales Blog.

As for TX generating his own inbound calls, $70 is probably a realistic CPI (cost per inquiry). Unless you're national, you'll need to advertise on radio, TV, print and/or direct mail in regional markets. Costs are always higher.

As a lead company, we can buy nationally, get cheaper rates and then filter the calls to a network of brokers.

If any of you are advertising and seeing that you are generating inbound calls in other states, you should let me know. We can take those hot-transfers from you and pay a 50/50 rev share or per call.

Thanks also for the comments about Vimo being a reputable company. We're nowhere near perfect, but our intentions are in the right place and we are working hard to build a product that leads the industry. Around our office we don't talk about how we can squeeze more dollars from customers. It's about building a great product, making improvements each week and let the market speak for itself.

And chumps, I can see a day when you might pay $50 per call. When you're closing 50% right? After we screen for more medical conditions we can start screening propensity to buy and for checking account/credit card. Keep tabs on the reasons why you aren't closing some leads and let us know. We can always adjust scripts and filter more effectively if you see a particular trend (i.e. getting people w/o checking accounts over and over again).

 

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

Thanks for the post VIMO. And yes...I'm a Miami grad (1980). Went to work for my employer after graduation and never left.

Another tough loss tonight at Louisville (bball). Hockey team still ranked Number 1 in the nation though.

 

[somarco]

Got my first Vimo live transfer.

5' 4", 220 #.

Part time worker.

No health insurance now.

No email (but somehow she got on the internet).

Lives in an apartment 70 miles away and wants me to come see her.

Not happening.

 

[vimo]

Not all calls are generated off of the internet. She could have been responding to a radio ad or TV ad.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

Well yet again it's simply all gonna come down to ROI. Everyone on this board knows you can get 10 shared leads, have 7 not answer, 2 bitch you out for being the 3rd person to call and maybe one's workable. We cannot return the other 9 because we didn't close them and by definition the other nine are "junk" that we probably paid $60 or so for.

I got four transfers today. I was on the phone with one for about 20 seconds, asked if she had an email, she said no and hung up on me. I requested a credit for that and already received it.

The other was a 61 year old lady with no computer wanting coverage for $30 per month. However, my other transfer was a family - 37 year old husband, 36 wife and two kids - have money, have current coverage but the rate's too high. That's a deal.

My forth was a lady on oxycodone for a pancreas problem. Luckily in MD I can help her with MHIP and she already did the app - gets me $100. So 4 transfers, 1 credit, one MHIP deal and one family deal. I'll take it.

It's simply the psychology that has a lot of people riled up about the live transfers. Any of us will get 5 leads at $7 a pop where none pick up the phone and we say "oh well, that's the name of the game" but hyper-freak if we get "bad" $35 transfer.